Added time can cause a bit of confusion in rugby as there are three key phrases: injury time, overtime, and extra time, that are often used by commentators and may sound as though they mean the same thing, but in actuality, they each have a very specific meaning.
Injury time is when time is added to each half of a rugby union game to make up for any stoppages that occurred during that half. In actuality, the clock is stopped as a player’s injury, or any other stoppage is being dealt with, so the time is not really added to the end, it is absorbed into the game time as it occurs with 80 minutes being the final endpoint.
Overtime is the term used to refer to game time which occurs after 80 minutes has been played. A game can only end when there is a natural stoppage in play. So, if there is no natural stoppage then the game simply continues even beyond 80 minutes until a natural stoppage does occur.
Extra time usually only occurs during the knockout stages of a tournament, such as, the world cup. While exceedingly rare, if a tournament knockout game is tied at the end of the match, up to 20 minutes of extra time will be added to determine a winner, usually 10 minutes each way.
Let’s go into a bit more depth on this, just so you understand the various types of added time in Rugby Union.
Injury Time Rules in Rugby Union
As you may well know, a rugby union game is formed of 2 x 40-minute halves. Unlike in football, where the referee personally keeps track of how much time needs to be added on to the end of the 90 minutes, in rugby the clock is simply stopped whenever one of the following events occur:
Retrieving the ball
As well as stopping the clock for injuries. Referees may also stop the clock for getting the ball back. This is more common in amateur games when a ball might be kicked onto a nearby road, or into a river from which a player needs to retrieve it from. Yes, I have had to retrieve balls from both of those!
Re-tying a bootlace
This is a bit of a frustration for everybody. Obviously, players can’t be made to run around with their shoelaces flailing about which would likely end in injury at some point.
However, the amount of times a player will sit down to fasten their boot laces at a critical juncture in the game when the other team are building some momentum has made it an easy loophole for cynical players to take advantage of.
Injuries
Injuries, World Rugby rules state that the clock should be stopped for one minute for injuries, i.e. the players and physios should be encouraged to get on with it. If it is a serious injury then the referee can restart the clock whenever the player has been safely removed from the field.
Rugby players are big guys in the professional game and it is often the case that a special ‘buggy’ has to be driven onto the pitch and a player carefully placed on a stretcher and driven off a pitch. Of course, this all takes time and stoppages of 10-15 minutes are common when such a serious injury occurs.
Replacing or repairing players’ clothing
This one is more difficult to fake. Despite a rugby player’s kit being made of very strong material these days, the forces involved when a 120 kg player grabs at someone’s shirt or shorts at speed and holds on means that player clothing does get torn in matches.
When this occurs, of course, the clock has to be stopped whilst the player manages to locate a new set of shorts, or whatever else is needed and gets redressed.
Shrieks of joy may be heard from females in the crowd when a rugby professional takes replace their shirts or shorts, but if it is a prop in the amateur game, it is more likely to be raucous giggles of laughter as the poor individual exposes their flabby belly to the dozen or so spectators on the sideline.
Replacement of players
To avoid the farcical time-wasting tactics of bringing on players in the last few minutes of a game just to waste time and slow the game down, as happens in football. In rugby, the referee simply stops the clock and restarts it when the game restarts with the new players on, no time lost.
Television Match Official Referrals
TMO’s can be called in to assist the referee for three reasons only:
Firstly, they can assist with assessing whether a try has indeed been scored or not, including whether the last pass was forward. Secondly, they can be used to flag up any incidents of foul play the onfield referee may have missed.
These types of incidents can take 5-10 minutes to sort out and so the clock is absolutely stopped for these types of incidences.
Thirdly, the TMO may also be called into action to check whether a kick for goal has indeed gone over or not, although this is rare it does occasionally happen.
So, they are the reasons that referees are allowed to stop the game clock, however, many people also feel that the clock should stop for time lost to scrums.
The problem is scrums are very difficult to set up and often collapse for no discernible reason and have to be reset time and time again.
This can be infuriating for the spectators watching and many feel that they are not getting what they paid for when there are endless collapsed scrums to reset.
Personally, I would be in favour of stopping the clock for scrums. It might make the games last longer but you would have more tired forwards running around and therefore more space for running rugby and tries to be scored!
The above stoppages and restarts mean that the game should end when the clock hits 80 minutes, however, this often does not happen because of the ‘over time’ scenario which we will discuss next.
You can also read our: Full Guide To The Basic Rules of Rugby
Overtime Rules In Rugby Union
Overtime is the brief period of time after 80 minutes are up to when a natural stoppage in the game occurs. This can be anything from a few seconds, all the way up to several minutes.
A natural stoppage in rugby occurs when the ball becomes dead and is most common when a player kicks the ball into touch.
The game will continue if a scrum, lineout, or restart kick following a try or touchdown was awarded before time expired, has not been completed and the ball has not returned to open play.
If the referee signals a free kick or penalty, a penalty is kicked into touch without the ball being tapped and without the ball touching another player, or if a try has been awarded, in which case the conversion kick is allowed to be taken before the final whistle does blow.
In one famous six nations game, due to a series of bizarre scrums, a total of 100 minutes were played before finally, a natural stoppage occurred and France won 20-15, full details here.
It should be noted that the All Blacks are famous for winning in the last play of the game. Something magic seems to happen to them when the 80 minutes re up and they know it is their last chance.
They will often go through 20 plus phases before scoring a match-winning try, much to the frustration of the opposition.
Recommended for you: Rugby Union Half Time Rules Explained
Extra Time Rules In Rugby Union
Extra time is not something that occurs all that often in Rugby Union as games rarely end in a draw. Furthermore, extra time will only ever be a factor when a game must be won outright, i.e. it is a game in a tournament e.g. Rugby World Cup.
When the game is tied at the end of regulation time, the extra time rules kick in. This will usually add 20-minutes to the end of the game with 10 minutes being played each way. At the halfway point, the teams switch ends following a 5-minute break.
At the end of the 20-minutes, if the game is still tied, then 10 further golden point minutes may be added on, depending on tournament rules, or the team with the fewer yellow/red cards will be awarded the victory.
Players, coaches, and managers should be very clear on what will happen after extra time as it could be crucial to the strategies they adopt to winning the game.
The most famous extra time in rugby history would have to be the 20 minutes added to the 2003 world cup final. This is when Jonny Wilkinson took control and slotted the winning drop goal of his weaker right foot.
Once the drop goal went over, however, it was still not the end of the game as the clock was only in the 18th minute, they had two more minutes to survive before Mike Catt finally was able to end the game by kicking the ball into touch in the 81st minute.
Here is the extra time in all its glory:
The most famous penalty shoot-out in rugby history would have to be in the Heineken European of 2009 when Cardiff play Leicester and the game ended 26-26 before going through 20 minutes of extra time and being decided by rugby’s first-ever penalty shootout.
Fittingly, and unsurprisingly it was a forward that missed their shot at goal and put the Tigers through to the final. Whilst, it was dramatic to watch. I would have personally liked to have seen them play on for a golden point.
Recommended for you: What Sports Have Extra Time/Over Time?
Image Credits
Australia and Canada were among the 16 countries competing against each other at the International Seven’s Rugby tournament sponsored by the National Guard at Petco Park in San Diego, February 14, 2009. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech Sgt. Julie Avey) The National Guard, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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